NUS said to be divesting $649m in private equity and real estate funds

The National University of Singapore (NUS) is divesting at least US$500 million ($649 million) in private equity and real estate funds to manage liquidity and rebalance its China exposure, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

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The university, which has total funds and reserves of more than $15 billion, is one of Singapore’s largest endowment allocators. Global buyout and China-focused funds are among those it is seeking to sell, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private.

Asia asset owners are increasingly turning to the secondary sales market — many for the first time - to shore up liquidity, which has been challenged by lower returns from private equity in recent years. Sales of such portfolios often come with a discount to the net asset value in return for getting the capital sooner.